• The fantastic Deep Roots Tall Trees will be returning to St Edmund’s Church in Warkton for a very special concert on the 11th May, reprising 'Remembrance and Rebirth: Songs for The Montage Monuments’ which premiered back in 2016. It promises to be a very special evening, with songs new and old to be performed, and you can purchase tickets on the door on the evening. Do go along if you can!
• Calling all schools in Corby & East Northamptonshire! National Grid Electricity Distribution are offering grants of up to £25,000 per school to install solar panels to help cut their carbon emissions and energy bills. Apply and find out more, here.
• I was delighted to hear that groups in Corby & East Northamptonshire have been awarded a share of £193,034 of funding by The National Lottery Community Fund between November and February this year, including most recently to Souster Youth in #Thrapston, who deserve a real shout-out for the safe, fun space and wellbeing support they provide to young people locally. Fantastic work and really great news!
• During my time as the Minister for Disabled People, Health & Work, I was incredibly proud to work with many brilliant organisations, including the RNIB, as well as various remarkable and hugely inspiring disability champions. Making sure that disabled people can flourish in their daily lives and can access our democracy to make their voices heard is something we must all strive to do more on. That’s why I am supporting the RNIB’s call to make the 2024 General Election the most accessible ever, including by adding Alt Text to my pictures. It’s a small change that can help make a huge difference, and I urge all involved in politics to try hard to play their part too.
• Ofsted have recently launched their ‘Big Listen’ campaign to take on board the views of parents, children, professionals and providers across education and social care, as they reform their approach. This is really important work to help Ofsted improve their inspections, and they’ve launched two online consultations to gather feedback, which I would encourage people to respond to. You can find out more, and take part in the consultations, here.
• In my frequent discussions with parents across Corby & East Northamptonshire, I’ve become keenly aware of how the cost of childcare can be a real struggle for parents, and how it can become a particular barrier for parents who wish to return to the workplace. That’s why I’m especially pleased that the Government is delivering the biggest ever expansion of childcare, expanding 30 free hours of childcare for parents with children aged 9 months' old until they start school. From the 1st April, eligible working parents of two-year-olds can access 15 hours of free childcare per week, which I know will make a real difference to families in our area.
• Good news! The British Business Bank have recently launched their £400 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund II to help smaller businesses thrive across the Midlands. The fund aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting new and growing businesses through investment strategies suited to meet the needs of different firms, with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investments up to £5 million to help businesses start-up, scale up, or stay ahead. The inaugural version of the fund has helped 739 smaller businesses since 2017 – this is an opportunity well worth exploring and to find out more, see, here.
• I’m really pleased that grassroots community projects in Corby & East Northamptonshire can apply for up to £20,000 of funding through National Lottery 'Awards for All'. I’m excited to see the great ideas come forward that will have a lasting positive impact on our communities! More information, here.
If you have anything you would like to be featured next week, please email all the details to pursglovet@parliament.uk.
Also, if you have taken any photos of constituency landscapes or landmarks, which could be featured in my ‘Community Notices’ headers, please send them in and I will try to use as many of them as possible (and credit them accordingly!), as a celebration of the fantastic place we live and work in. I know we have many budding photographers in our community and it would be great to showcase their work!